.: Uhm.. :.

Oh, lookie here.. I know I've shown this a couple of months ago but hey, this is one whole chicken! Greasy, looks a bit yucky, but once you know how this 'Ayam Kalasan from Ayam Djogdja', you'll get so addicted to it. *curious why they only use ancient spelling on the 'djogdja'... hmm* I'm on a poultry-eating-mode, ever since my friend introduced me to the yummiest fried duck in Bdg. I'm so craving for Kafe Bali's fried duck at the moment. However I won't forget my most fave food of all time: salmon sushi. The Sushi-Groove in Bandung is quite nice, they recently added some seats outside (sidewalk cafe-style, if you will).

.: almost forgotten? :.

I like the fact that I can reach J-Town in less than 2 hrs now. The scenery is not too bad, still lush with green hills & trees (well at least during HALF of the trip) However the road itself is becoming very rough and dull with not much twists & turns, and I always got into some scary monologues during the trip. So when we decided to use another route, I gladly accepted the idea. (altho it took more than 4 hrs to reach J-Town) The route through Puncak was not entirely forgotten (we got into traffic jam there...:p) and the view haven't changed that much.The old restaurants are still there (remember Rindu Alam, anyone? Swike Jatiwangi?), the Safari Park is still 'happening', some new fashion outlets emerged (ahh...) and some 'antique' stores. The trip reminds me of lovely childhood memories... ;)

.: Come on... :.

I got this link from Mr A, apparently you can created your very own test, this is quite fun! Come on, I wanna know what do you know about me! :) No cheating though! I'll be waiting!
Create your own Friend Test here

Create your own Friend Test here

.: Porridge, anyone? :.

It's still a bit chilly and dewy in the morning, the sun is still shining shyly, your tummy is calling for attention but you don't want anything too heavy, what to do? Eat warm chicken porridge! Legend has it that Mang Oyo's chicken porridge is so thick, if you flip the bowl, you won't see any drops. However I ordered one with shreded chicken - which would be such a waste if I drop them - so I didn't do the flippy-thingy.

.: the language of advertising :.

I'm always drawn into beautiful and interesting things in this life, and as a graphic designer I'm always on the lookout of good designs, especially in printed matters. However when I saw these, I was lost for words ... I'll let you be the judge... :p no offense to whoever created these:

.: Mum's Yums :.

Sometimes I wonder how did mothers get their skills such as cooking, sewing, knitting, and all other mummy stuff... My mom said "it all comes naturally..." She always cook right & fast! In less than 30 minutes she makes 3 different meals! Impressive! She's a kitchen-magician! Will I ever be like her? Doubt it (gotta spend more time in the kitchen... chopping & dicing...) My fave is her homemade beef-steak and nasi goreng kencur. Here is a pic of what she cooked for lunchie yesterday ...L-R: cubed potatoes stir-fried with ground pork; 'rempeyek udang' & 'perkedel kentang'; 'getuk' from local marketplace.

.: Full-Fat Weekend :.

What is it about going to the gym that inspires us to eat more sugary treats? I suddenly have constant cravings for soda (Strawberry/Green Apple Fanta and Sprite!!!) while my gym-mate is craving for cakes. Last weekend was so hot and I did not feel like going out too far from home so my friends & I went to Brussel Spring, only to find it was sooo packed. However we got seats outside and got some fruity gelato. I had one yummy scoop of Strawberry Gelato on top of Belgian Waffle with fresh strawberries & chocolate... :p Also must-try are the green apple and blueberry flavor. Then my oh-so-sweet friends convinced me to went to a 7AM mass... (zzzz) I went since they promised to go to Grand Eastern for dimsum afterward. So we went and found out that we're greedy by nature (not by sushi as originally thought). Look what we ordered! No other dim-sum places in Bandung make good Fried Man Tao (???). Sunday is another hot & sunny day so after dragging our sleepy-selves around the mall looking like zombies, we opt for something refreshing at Excelso. Those are two glasses of very fresh Blossom Freeze, a mix of strawberries, lemons and a banana. We're instantly back to our cheerful-selves, altho 2 hrs after that we could't get away from drooling over the greentea cake on display at BreadTalk... (Must... buy... cake ... now ...) Then we entered food comma and accumulate our fats by napping... zzzzzzz

.: It's a Farm Life for Me :.

Even before I own an NDS I've set my heart on Harvest Moon because I heard it is so full of cute animal characters and various interactions. You have to take care of your farm, find 101 Harvest Sprites to help you take care of your farm, make friends, get yourself a girlfriend-woe-and marry her, mine some jewels to woe your fiancee... etc etc etc! Fun!! I've decided that my character will marry Celia since she's so cute and kindhearted. Here's an image of Celia which I got from Game Freak:And now I'm obsessed with cute farm animals... Here's a cute farm game & Fuzzy Creatures I found through Cute Overload. I also got myself 2 pajamas with cute farm creatures ... !

.: Pizza Hut Indonesia? :.

Welcome to torture-indo-peepz-in-the-states-time, mwahaha ... ok i got strong reactions against my last post! Meaning almost all of you guys are soo craving for Batagor Kingsley??? hahaha... Anyways after several days skippin' dinner, the food-lover in me was hungry for something extra fatty, so my friend and I went to Pizza Hut- originally just to have some salad. But what's the purpose of entering pizza hut without having any pizza?? So we went ahead and ordered CreaMayo Chicken Pizza... with stuffed cheese, and another portion of Chicken Quesadilla.... and salad, of course. Indonesian Pizza Hut served unusual variety of pizza; yummy, fatty appetizers such as shrimp bruschetta, and rice dishes.
I also want to say thank's for all the bday gifts I got this week, yaay... i love gifts! Got a cute bracelet, gym shorts (haha i got the hint!!), and a set of mini shower gels from Body Shop. I guess somebody pay attention to what I said last week *wink2*. Oh I should've pointed something else huh? J/k! From what I heard from Miss M, apparently finding gifts for me weren't too easy, they have to visit all the malls in Bandung... Aww you guys! Thank you so much! Greatly appreciated!

.: Gloomy Bandung :.

As I was driving down Jalan Siliwangi, suddenly I realized how pretty this street is, with its lush greeneries and artsy graffitti... Especially in the afternoon... Keep Bandung beautiful, euy! LOL ... I hope I can present you with more pics of Bandung.
Now this is one of my favorite dish from Bandung: Batagor or Baso Tahu Goreng (whatever that is in English?!) from Kingsley. I believe it's the yummiest of all batagor in Bandung. They also serves Batagor Kuah, Bihun-Baso, rows after rows of local snacks, and 'live street music' haha ...

.: Winner! :.

This is Pepperoni Bratwurst from Winner; the new branch. I guess it's a play from the word wiener, but their wieners are winners! (haha..) It's quite tasty, and the homemade fries are yummy. Unfortunately this restaurant is right underneath my gym, and how unfortunate it is to pass it by after I workout : tired and hungry... :p

.: You are what you eat... :.

I finally made up my mind and took the challenge to step up ... into the scale! I kinda guess that since I started this blog, I'm so obssessed to post yummy food and try to go the extra mile just to present to you new stuff each week; so I should've gain some weight. And I did not balance it with enough exercise, so I should've known where is that needle in the scale going to point... I almost fell since the number where it stopped was really shocking. So i complied and went to the gym with my friend yesterday. I was surprised to found several of my friends were also members of the same gym, so I don't feel as lazy anymore! But I won't sacrifice the good stuff, so here goes:

L-R: caramel mocchachino from Ngopi Doeloe, grilled pork from 5 Sekawan, Nasi Timbel Komplit etc from Manjabal2, and mom's Nasi Lengko

.: Happy Birthday! :.

To who? To me, of course! Thank you so much for everybody who remembers, I'm so touched... A lot of people remember, altho my best friend in the whole wild world did not congratulates me for whatever reason, hmpf... having too much fun in her long-overdue-vacation, perhaps... What I love about birthdays is of course the gifts (where's my nintendo wii and pic of flowies?) you can buy cakes without restraint! Go mad with cakes! Cakes cakes cakes... :p I've heard about this little cheesecake shop near my house and I decided to give it a try. It's called Cizz (since they only sell cheesecakes). I bought their strawberry cheesecake and a small cup of tiramisu. Mom also got Kupat Tahu Gempol for me (fried tofu mixed with rolled rice and beansprouts, covered by peanut butter...) and made me fried vermicelli. Surprise, surprise, my friend who co-owns a well known chinese restaurant also sent me the birthday noodle dish! So yummy! Thx a lot! And yes, that's my Dad's thumb's up for the dishes... I also heard a lot about this restaurant in Paskal Hypersquare called Ta Yang Suki, which actually is a suki restaurant but also serves good chinese food, so I decided to try. The ambiance is unbelievably horrible; so noisy, hot and packed (well IT IS a chinese restaurant...) but the food here is good! The dish on the top is stir-fried Mussell with Bamboo (you don't eat the bamboo pieces, just for flavor), the middle is my strawberry cheesecake, and the bottom one is their infamous deep fried soft shell crab. They also serve yummy steamed fish, donut-shaped squid and deep fried squid with spicy salt. They have 3 pages of selections for the suki and 3 flavor of soup. Despite the unfriendly ambiance I'll be back to try the suki!

.: Lotsa Updates! :.

Hmmm ... Sorry for my chronic laziness lately ... Not a big fan of summer and ever since the weather got warmer I began my hibernation-mode... Anyway I finally got a chance to reunite with my LA gal pals last saturday and got so many updates of their lives... Interesting how things turned out after we want back for good. Some say that people will change, and they do change for the better ... good for you all! After some dispute they finally agreed to meet at my choice of place (altho miss K complained hehe). It's called CASA and it's on top of Aksara Bookstore in Kemang Raya, Jakarta. I understand it's the gathering place for some architects & interior designers who work around Kemang Area... so cozy, nice music, good decor, good food and friendly waiters. This is what I got..(FYI we share the pizza!!!) On the left is Black Squid Spaghetti (It's actually aglio e olio but the spaghetti is darkened by black squid's ink) and on the right is Chicken Parmigiana thin pizza... the pizza is delectable while the spaghetti, despite the yucky appearance, actually tasted pretty good. Good food and good conversation, I can live with that forever! Haha... :p

.: Something Froggy here... :.

Yay! I finally eat something else aside from my usual meal. This is 'swike kuah' and 'swike goreng mentega' from Swike Waled, Jln Cihampelas, Bandung. They served the best froggy dishes in Bandung. The soup is very tasty, you'll drink it to the last drop! :D

.: Yoga Wednesdays :.

After more than a month my friend Ms F has been trying to convince me & my other gal pals to join her for a yoga session at her place. We gave her many excuses (some are true, some are 100% laziness) and finally we gave in yesterday. I haven't done any yoga for more than 2 yrs and found out that my joints were not as cooperative as when I was younger (haha). I had with me my old yoga mat, lookin' all cool and serene, mind-body & soul whatever... But after a few minutes I realized that I need to be re-introduced to yoga all over again coz I really sucked... :D I twisted my hand after several simple poses, and have to be healed by the instructor (who, by the way, master the art of reiki). Then on several poses I was paired with my taller friends so we're totally off balance & couldn't stop giggling... After we finished, the instructor offered to teach us Reiki, which is something along the line of ChiQung; taking the energy from nature, try to balance it with our own inner energy, then use the power to heal ourselves or others... Very interesting! The instructor used it on me earlier and my hand was healed after a few minutes! He can also read our aura, and told us a bit about ourselves! How impressive, he told me something that no one even knows that side of me. (I DO have a dark side and secret identity... haha)
Anyway although my whole body is sore now, I'm so coming back next week!

.: whoopsie :.

Uh oh.. haven't updated for awhile ... I was caged a few days ago due to my severe cough ... I'm contagious!! Kidding... :D Since the two californians are back, I can start torturing you guys again with Indo delicacies, huh? Yippee! Okay, what yummies did I ate last week, lemme see ...

clockwise from top left: Entrecote Mont Blanc from Atmosphere, Very Berry Snow Ice from Charmy, Oseng Kecipir, and Yamien Manis Baso from Mie Anugrah-GOR Pajajaran.

For those who are clueless about kecipir (or cipir in javanese), here's a thorough explanation from the always reliable wikipedia. It's one of my fave veggie, along with pare, leunca & sweet corn. ( I cannot find anything on leunca on wiki, not even the sundanese one :p) And while searching for explanations of Indonesian veggies, I found this link. Very interesting information about Indonesia (and have good pictures too!)